Improvement in shifting-rails for carriages



P. B. FULLER. Shifting-Rail for Carriages.

No. 208,303. Pate ntedSept. 24, I878.

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-as will be more fully described hereinafter.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PLIMMON B. FULLER, OF UNION CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHlFTlNG-RAILS FOR CARRIAGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,303, datedSeptember 24, 1878; application filed September 3, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PLIMMON B. FULLER, ofUnion City, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Shifting-Rails; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in shifting tops for carriages;and it consists in making a jaw or clamp upon each of the irons securedto the back, so that the rail to which the top is fastened can besecurely clamped between the said back-irons and the seatirons, and yetallow the rail to be removed at any time without having to take off theback,

The accompanying draw-in gs represent my invention.

a represents the seat; I), the back, and c the irons secured thereto andconnecting it to the seat; (I, the rail to which the top is fastened,and e the seat-irons.

The seat-irons 0 project a suitable distance beyond the edges of theseat, and have holes f through them for the screw ends of the back-irons0 to pass through, and just beyond the holes are the transverse groovesg, for the lower edges of the rail to fit in. At a distance above thetops of the seat-irons, to be regulated by the thickness of the rail (1,on the outside of each back-iron c, is made a hook or clam p,

h, which catches over the top edge of the rail. By tightening the nuts ton the lower ends of the back-irons the hooks h will be drawn downward,so as to clamp the rail with any desired force between them and theseat-irons c. When it is desired to remove the rail, it is onlynecessary to loosen the nuts until the back-irons are capable of beingraised high enough up to let the rail d be removed.

By the construction above described the rail can be removed and replacedwithout the trouble of removing the back, while the cost of making theparts is no greater. In the top and bottom edges of the rail will bemade notches 0 for the clamp to catch in, and thus prevent any lateralmotion should the nuts work loose. The rail, being made perfectlystraight everywhere except at the front ends, can be manufactured morecheaply than any others now in use.

Having thus described my invention, I claim The combination of theback-irons 0, having the hooks h, with the seat-irons e and rail d, therail being clamped in position by the nuts i between the seat-irons andhooks, substantially as shown.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing 1 have hereunto set my hand this30th day of August, 1878.

PLIMMON B. FULLER.

WVitnesses:

WVM. INNMEYER, H. L. CHURCH.

